Dear Oakwood Community,
This opening letter marks the end of a very unusual summer. In years past, the school would have been focused on things such as evolving the curriculum, campus improvements, and new hires. While each of these things did happen this summer, we’ve also been working nearly nonstop on other crucial issues connected to the unique point in history we are all in—on how to deliver instruction in online and hybrid on-campus models, and how to address the inherent and systemic racism embedded within our society and institution. However, through all of this and thanks to the partnership of our entire community, I remain confident that Oakwood School will provide the very best educational experience possible this fall.
Last year’s theme, Better Together, could easily have been adopted as our rallying cry this coming year. It will certainly persist as an unofficial motto, as Better Together captures our shared belief that we are poised to overcome and ultimately thrive when we take care of one another. We have consistently demonstrated this over the last several months as our community rallied to support individuals and families who were impacted by the forces that have wreaked havoc in our lives. I want to thank you for the generosity and support that many of you have demonstrated.
While I’m certain that we would have all preferred to avoid the trauma that has been inflicted on our society and on individuals in our community, as the impact has been profound, I can’t help but believe that there must be something positive to be gained from this experience. We will all look back on this time and ask ourselves the questions, “how did I or we respond and what did we learn?” While this has brought difficult, even catastrophic changes to our ways of life, we are also being provided with a unique opportunity. As head of school, I am committed to doing everything in my power to ensure that we don’t look back with regret that Oakwood School didn’t take advantage of this moment in time to grow and change, as individuals and as a school.
This year’s theme, Embrace the Moment, is an optimistic call to action to use this moment in time as an opportunity to learn and grow. Specifically, it relates to the work we have before us, to accept and ultimately address mistakes we have made in how we allow systemic racism to impact the lives of our BIPOC students and families. As I mentioned in my letter earlier this month, we all have a responsibility to take action, there is no opting out, and we must embrace the moment to be better.
Another idea embodied by Embrace the Moment is being fully in the present and not dwelling on what has taken place or what our future will look like. Those of us who have adopted the tenets of mindfulness will recognize the push to remain focused on the moment at hand. This has the benefit of minimizing distraction and judgement, which not only helps improve our sense of wellbeing, it also has the potential to benefit our health and personal relationships. Embrace the Moment can be our mantra to help us stay focused on what is most important in our lives, while being a call to action in these unique times to make a change for good.
